The header of a file is the metadata, it tells the executable what it is looking at. Open a file in a hex editor and you can read the header. The first line in a header contains an identifier that shows what type of file it is, then there is info on how to decompress the file if it is compressed, there is info on how the data is structured, if it is 8bit or 16bit for example, etc. Headers are usually from one line to several lines, often just plain text. A file doesn't need to contain a header, but 99% of files on your PC have a header. Files that actually don't contain a header are often a reason for an OS to sound the alarm bells because it can not figure out what it's looking at. Each time you create a text file, an image, a sound file, whatever, a header is created, after that the data follows. You can of course mess with those headers and pretend the file is something it is not, which is where the problems start.
Regarding programs caring what the file extension is, many programs flat out ignore it, they only look at the header and they try to load the data, regardless of what it's called. And sometimes it is a good thing. For example, I work a lot with vector files, which have tons of different extensions, even though the data structure is often similar. The fact many programs don't care about the extension and simply try to load it anyway is a good thing for compatibility. I could call my file "file.pancake" and I would be able to load it. Just like no image program cares if you file is a .jpg or .jpeg file, it flat out ignores it and will load the data because it understands what type of data it is from reading the header.
So applying to be a member of the Community Research Council is also not optional, right? I mean, it's stickied. Must be required?
Maps are required to be able to properly navigate the game, being a member of the "community research council" is not, because it has nothing to do with gameplay and irrelevant to this thread. Can you play without maps? Sure, just like you can get to lvl 80 in WoW without ever killing a single mob. It is far from ideal.
Nah. It's stickied. It's therefore required. I learned this from you, and I can see through your lies.
Yes, I remember you, you were just as much of an unlikable person as you are now. No need to stick around in my threads if you think they are ridiculous my friend. Almost all games provide maps for players and none ask them to download them from 3rd party sites. I am not the first person to ask developers to add maps and won't be the last, our suggestion is not "ridiculous" at all. Maps being available to players so they can navigate the world, without having to resort to downloading 3rd party files is common-sense.
You have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. No site is "blocked" because they don't use https. LOL. It will not be "impossible" to download files outside of repos. ROFL. The non https sites is also a long time off.
Smokebane, let me tell you something else. People aren't your personal punch ball. You have a tendency to come into threads, contribute little and attack people. We are not asking to change the game, to nerf anything, or to cause any impact on your game. We are asking the make the game more accessible. Each time people do these suggestions, you barge into these threads and try to shoot down the suggestion, which doesn't help anyone.
Mixed content is https and http content on the same page. For example, if you go to https://www.strawberry.com and try to load http://www.strawberry.com/jquery.js - you will have the javascript file blocked. There can still be a LINK to download a file, say http://www.strawberry.com/maps.zip that will work fine in some browsers. (Chrome will block it now - but it's not what you linked).
Most of us have taken our turn at being an unlikable person on these forums. On the topic though, maps would be nice, but not necessary. Part of EQ's charm was (is) exploration and discovery. Sure, I use maps, but I also spend my time in Beta exploring and getting to know my way around visually before Good or Brewall even have preliminary maps released. But to be fair to those returning or starting new a basic map pack with the game should be included.
It's a bloody text file. Unless your computer is stupid and executing code in the text file. It is a text file. What are you talking about .exes in there? They are all text files (and end in .txt to boot)
Whatever is opening the file is broken if it's opening and interpreting a text file. There is nothing in a text file that needs to be interpreted beyond sending some text to the text rendering engine.
You stated an absolute that isn't true. We navigated complicated and detailed zones for years without maps, and I still navigate by landmark once familiar with a zone more often than I navigate by map. Just like I no longer use my GPS to get to the pharmacy of the new town I moved to a couple years ago. Regardless, I do agree that more maps should be a default thing in the game. Maybe not for all the zones. You've put too much emphasis on the acquisition methods rather than the logic. Players wanted an in-game cartography system and that is what our current mapping system is. We are fortunate that devoted cartographers can and do share their work with us. If you are uncomfortable downloading their work then use the system for what it is and generate your own maps. Then share them please, I'd love to see more folks' cartography work.
There's a few reasons that I think they're bugging out on and none have anything to do with something being a true txt file: 1: Microsoft's stupid insistence, to this day, of making "Hide extensions for known file types" the default when viewing filenames. It's lazy, it's dumb, and has always been a huge security risk but it doesn't come into play in a pure txt file; unless it's something like a batch (.bat) or script (.scr and the like). (Sure, with the default setting you might innocently click on arxmentis.txt to edit it when it's actually named arxmentis.txt.exe and it runs but that whole issue is because Microsoft made a stupid decision and the end user may not know any better and has nothing to do with EQ maps). 2. Renaming an executable with its proper headers to a .txt extension isn't going to do jack other than have the program associated with that extension open it; e.g. Notepad, Word, NotePad++, et al because it expects that it's a .txt file and rightfully so and has nothing to do with EQ maps. -Those first two are plain truth but let's go bananas: 3. You zone and EverQuest innocently reads your arxmentis.txt map file unaware that arbitrary code has been added in the middle of that zone file to mine Bitcoin and runs it behind the scenes. (No, that's not happening either. If this were possible then a PoC would have been out a looong time ago and I'm sure the eqclient would disregard anything other than what it's parsing for for coordinates.
Don't tempt a hacker to look for buffer overflows in a 20+ year old game. That's just asking for trouble.
You must really hate P99 and the original Everquest pre-Ykesha. Count your blessings that they leave QOL tools in the game on early TLP servers.
That's it more than anything, basic maps would be nice. It's the reasons why he's posted that downloading maps from another website are so insideous... that is so ridiculous. Browsers don't pop up OMG! warnings when you download a file unless you've set up your computer in ultra paranoid mode, and that's on you. And no, a simple txt file that you copy to your EverQuest/maps directory isn't dangerous at all. The idea that we'll all be locked into downloading files from repo's like github... is absurd as well. The example of github being this benevolent place is humourous as well. Github is the home for the cheat software that a lot of us despise. It's the home for many DDoS tools that wreck havoc on the internet.
